Our response to the House of Lords Autism Act 2009 report

The House of Lords Special Inquiry Committee has published its landmark report ‘Time to deliver: The Autism Act 2009 and the new autism strategy’.

The report evaluates the effectiveness of the Act and strategies and recognises that they have failed to deliver real change for autistic people. We provided evidence during the Committee’s inquiry.  

Responding to the report, Jolanta Lasota, our Chief Executive, said:  

“It's a perilous time for autistic children, young people and their families. Misinformation about autism is on the rise, thousands are stuck on waiting lists for assessments and support, while many struggle at school. This impacts their employment prospects and life chances as adults.

“This landmark report makes for difficult but important reading, confirming what so many of us already know - that the Autism Act 2009 has failed to achieve meaningful change for autistic people. Successive governments have been unsuccessful in tackling the systemic issues impacting autistic people in education, employment and health and social care. The Act's subsequent strategies lacked implementation plans and necessary funding, meaning they were bound to fail. Autistic people and their families deserve better than this.

“We thank the House of Lords Special Inquiry Committee for its work, and for listening to our evidence. We support its recommendations to deliver real change for autistic people. Central to this is the need for a new autism strategy, supported with clear statutory duties, performance measures, and proper accountability mechanisms. Without this, support for children and young people remains patchy and deprioritised.  

“The Government has an opportunity to finally get things right for autistic people. It must commit to a strategy that is ambitious, joined up, and laser focused on positive outcomes. Crucially, it needs to listen to the views of autistic children, young people and their families when making plans that determine their life outcomes.”

Read Jolanta’s new blog about what we need to see from the Government’s new autism strategy.